My name is Minjae Ormes and I am working with National Geographic Channel to promote their programs and interactive features online. I came upon your writings on To the Moon, Mars, and Beyond while researching folks in the science community who might be interested in some of our upcoming programs, and wanted to reach out to you.

The following are three programs that I thought might be of interest to you and your readers. I would be happy to send you additional information if you are interested, including some photos/videos:

National Geographic Channel talks to the scientists behind NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, about the legendary feats and obstacles the Rovers have overcome.

*CALLING ALL ALIENSSunday, November 2 @10PM ET/PT*

National Geographic Channel takes you behind-the-scenes at the California-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, where new techniques and remarkable technologies are being put in place to find the real E.T.

*DIRECT FROM THE MOON (Part of the Expedition Week, November 16 – 23)*Monday, November 17 @9PM ET/PT

Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin enthralled the nation when they became the first men to land on the moon. Nearly 40 years later, lunar exploration has returned to the headlines as scientists are uncovering a treasure trove of information from the moon about the birth of our solar system. Now, high-definition video of the moon's surface is being beamed directly back from just above the moon, unveiling the astonishing lunar terrain in spectacular detail thanks to Kaguya, a Japanese lunar orbiter launched in September 2007. Custom-built to map the lunar surface and measure the moon's magnetic and gravitational fields, Kaguya will also allow scientists to perform pioneering analysis, setting the groundwork for future missions to the moon and a prolonged lunar base. We also hear directly from Aldrin as he watches breathtaking images of the moon's craters, haunting plains and an actual "full Earth-rise." Then, NASA scientists discuss the challenges involved and innovations under way for establishing a lunar outpost. *Direct from the Moon* features images so powerful, some scientists claim they will inspire the next generation of lunar exploration.

Also, below is the full press release for *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*. Please let me know if you would like more information on any or all of these programs.

Thank you in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from you!

(*WASHINGTON, D.C. – OCTOBER 22, 2008*) This November, let the National Geographic Channel take you on two real Space Age adventures — to the Red Planet and beyond!

It could be the basis for a sequel to the Pixar sci-fi movie Wall-E, except this is the real-life odyssey of two robots. On Sunday, November 2, 2008, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, NGC brings the adventures of solar-powered robotic rovers Spirit and Opportunity to the screen in *Five Years on Mars*, a vivid high-definition visualization of their parallel missions on either side of the Red Planet. Using photo-realistic animation based on the actual landscape as captured by the rovers' cameras, the one-hour special dramatizes the trials and tribulations of these intrepid explorers while highlighting new scientific information on the planet's geology and water history.

Launched in 2003, Spirit and Opportunity were originally expected to collect data over 90 Martian days, called "sols." What began as a short-term science mission looking for evidence of ancient water has turned into one of the greatest adventures of the Space Age. After almost five years in operation, they have astonishingly survived, proving more resilient and luckier than anyone could have predicted. They've trekked miles across hostile plains, climbed mountains, ventured in and out of deep craters, gotten stuck in sand dunes, survived dust storms and mechanical failures, and cheated death so often no one will venture a guess as to how much longer they might last.

*Five Years on Mars* captures the emotional highs and lows experienced by the scientists and engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., who spend their days seeing through the rovers' eyes and now think of Spirit and Opportunity in almost human terms. Spirit is the hard luck rover who trekked for months across a barren desert, scaled a mountain and lost a wheel before finding anything of scientific interest. Opportunity is the lucky one for whom everything has gone right from the moment it landed right on top of abundant evidence of early Martian water.

"It was like being inside this bizarre Martian mystery novel," says Steve Squyres, lead scientist, JPL. "Every sol or two you'd get a new clue handed to you, and it really improved our understanding of what we were dealing with here."

Later that same night, on November 2, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, venture even further into space and see the remarkable ways scientists are searching for extraterrestrial life in *Calling All Aliens*. From building the most sensitive "ear" of all time — the massive Allen Telescope Array — to sending interstellar CD and text messages, there are myriad ways to try to make contact.

The one-hour special takes viewers to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, Calif., where scientists have activated 42 out of the planned 350 giant radio dishes that make up the Allen Telescope Array. SETI never had a dedicated instrument like this to use in the search for ET 24/7 — until now. Funded in part by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the dishes collect datastreams from outer space that are then analyzed to determine if they carry any unusual frequencies. Monitoring computers alert the scientific team when a particularly strong signal comes through … but so far nothing has led them to believe that ET is trying to phone Earth.

Jodie Foster's character in the movie Contact was based on Jill Tarter, director of the Allen Telescope Array project and considered the "Grande Dame" of SETI research. SETI lost funding from NASA and Congress back in 1993, and they are now a nonprofit organization counting on donations like Paul Allen's … and anyone who wants to buy a telescope in the array.

"You can buy a telescope and have your name on it," says Tarter. "The price tag is $100,000. That's a big number in some sense, but a very small number for a radio telescope!"

SETI astronomer Seth Shostak, who hosts a weekly radio show called "Are We Alone?," is very optimistic about his colleagues' ingenuity in undertaking the search and about the advancements in technology.

"Our galaxy has a few hundred billion star systems, so it doesn't surprise that me we haven't found other intelligent life yet," says Shostak. "But the search is speeding up, and I think everybody deep down inside wishes that the experiment would succeed while they're still around to see that happen."

In Florida, one company claims it can make that happen for just $299. For that price, anyone can send a CD, text or music message out into space using a radio transmission device. Across the globe in Moscow, radio engineer Alexander Zaitsev, in conjunction with METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence), has sent several messages into space on a directive from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Also in Russia, they are planning to take it a step further by sending samples of human DNA into space to show what we're made of to any highly intelligent life forms out there.

But not everyone is eager to make contact. Author David Brin thinks it is dangerous to try to communicate to a life form that we have no real knowledge of. He fears ET will come to annihilate the human race.

"I'm not claiming that there are a million deadly horrible probes out there," says Brin. "But there is no proof that there are not."

Also on November 2, in between *Five Years on Mars* and *Calling All Aliens*, catch an encore presentation of *Naked Science: Life on Mars *at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Join NASA's Phoenix Mission to determine if life could have existed — or can exist — on our closest planetary neighbor.

*Five Years on Mars* is produced by Mark Davis Productions for the National Geographic Channel. For Mark Davis Productions, producer, writer and director is Mark Davis. For the National Geographic Channel executive producer is Howard Swartz, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

*Calling All **Aliens* is produced by VIDICOM in association with ARTE/ZDF, Channel 5 Russia, SBS TV Australia and co-produced with SPIEGEL TV and Corona Films St. Petersburg. Executive producer is Peter Bardehle and director is Christian Schidlowski. For the National Geographic Channel, producer is Lauren Cardillo, senior vice president of special programming is Michael Cascio and executive vice president of content is Steve Burns.

# # #

Based at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C., the National Geographic Channel (NGC) is a joint venture between National Geographic Ventures (NGV) and Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Since launching in January 2001, NGC initially earned some of the fastest distribution growth in the history of cable and more recently the fastest ratings growth in television. The network celebrated its fifth anniversary in January 2006 with the launch of NGC HD, which provides the spectacular imagery that National Geographic is known for in stunning high-definition. NGC has carriage with all of the nation's major cable and satellite television providers, making it currently available to more than 68 million homes. For more information, please visit www.natgeotv.com .

(CNN) -- India launched its first lunar mission Wednesday, with hopesof achieving high-resolution images of the moon's topography anddiving into the international space race.

The launch of the unmanned lunar orbiter Chandrayaan-1, or "mooncraft" in ancient Sanskrit, came at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday (8:50 p.m. ET)from the Sriharikota space center.

The two-year mission seeks high-resolution imaging of the moon'ssurface, especially the permanently shadowed polar regions, ISRO said.It will also search for evidence of water or ice and attempt toidentify the chemical breakdown of certain lunar rocks, the groupsaid.

ISRO on its Web site said the mission would lay the groundwork forfuture lunar missions and "probe the physical characteristics of thelunar surface in greater depth than previous missions by othernations."

Snip----------------------------------------------------------

It is hard enough to get into orbit around Earth.Then you have to leave Earth Orbit at the correct moment to put you ona track that will lead the Moon enough to feel the Moon'sgravitational pull as it comes around to meet you.Add to that the correct amount of change in velocity to actually becaptured by the Moon's gravity to get you into Lunar Orbit.Finish up with some circularizing adjustments and then begin your mission.

For a really good time, make sure your orbit is adjusted before youget pushed into the Lunar surface or clipped by a tall mountain.

Chandrayaan-1 — which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit — isscheduled to launch from the Sriharikota space center in southernIndia at 8:20 p.m. EDT Tuesday in a two-year mission aimed at layingthe groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.

Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of themoon, but what lies beneath. If the launch is successful, India willjoin what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese andJapanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.

"THE MOON" with the history of the early solar system etched on itbeckons mankind from time immemorial to admire its marvels anddiscover its secrets. Understanding the moon provides a pathway tounravel the early evolution of the solar system and that of the planetearth.

Through the ages, the Moon, our closest celestial body has arousedcuriosity in our mind much more than any other objects in the sky.This led to scientific study of the Moon, driven by human desire andquest for knowledge. This is also reflected in the ancient verse.Exploration of the moon got a boost with the advent of the space ageand the decades of sixties and seventies saw a myriad of successfulunmanned and manned missions to moon.Following this, a hiatus of aboutone and a half-decade followed. During this period we refined ourknowledge about the origin and evolution of the moon and its place asa link to understand the early history of the Solar System and of theearth.

India's first unmanned rocket to the moon has been successfully placedin its orbit. ISRO Chairmain Dr G Madhavan Nair described it as ahistoric moment for India.

A rocket is carrying India's maiden spacecraft to the moon,Chandrayaan-1 and the scientists ensured the launch was smooth.

During its two-year life Chandrayaan-1, an Indian mission withinternational partners will map the moon's resources like neverbefore.

snip==============================================================http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ChandrayaanChandrayaan-1 (Sanskrit: चंद्रयान-1, lit: Lunar Craft-1), is an unmanned lunar exploration mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India's national space agency. The mission includes a lunar orbiter as well as an impactor. The spacecraft was launched by a modified version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle on 22 October 2008.snip==============================================================

--------------------------------------------------------http://www.spacedev.com/press_more_info.php?id=285Oct 10, 2008 0:00SpaceDev Founder Jim Benson DiesPOWAY, CA - October 10, 2008 - SpaceDev, Inc. (OTCBB: SPDV) announcedtoday that SpaceDev Founder and Board Member James Benson, 63, diedpeacefully in his home. Benson was diagnosed in 2007 with a glioblastomamultiforme brain tumor, the cause of his death early this morning.--------------------------------------------------------

When Mr. Benson founded SpaceDev, in 1997, he had hoped to build anall-inclusive space-exploration company that would put rovers on themoon and lay claim to asteroids near Earth. That didn't happen, but hehad told The Wall Street Journal in 2007 that there were mineralswaiting to be extracted there that "would probably create the firsttrillionaires."

American entrepreneur Jim Benson, founder of the aerospace firm SpaceDevthat helped build the rocket engine that launched the world's firstprivately-built manned spaceship into suborbital space, died earlyFriday of a brain tumor, the company announced today.

Benson died in his sleep from a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor,which he was diagnosed with last year, SpaceDev officials said. He was 63.

SpaceDev, Inc. announced today that SpaceDev Founder and Board MemberJames Benson, 63, died peacefully in his home. Benson was diagnosed in2007 with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor, the cause of his deathearly this morning. Mr. Benson had resigned from an operational role inSpaceDev in September 2006. He retained a seat on the Board of Directorsof SpaceDev where he had continued to support the Company that hefounded in 1997.

"Jim was a true visionary," said Mark Sirangelo, SpaceDev's CEO andChairman of the Board. "He saw that space exploration could be moreeffective if done commercially, and formed SpaceDev to make that dreambecome a reality. He will be missed by many but his legacy contained inSpaceDev will continue to forward his vision for the commercializationof space. On behalf of the employees, board and shareholders of SpaceDevwe would like to express our condolences to the Benson family."

Thursday, October 09, 2008

In one science fiction story I read, a mirror was made out of ice,coated with a reflective metal compound, and used to bounce acommunication laser off of it and into the view port of the lunar basedoing bodily harm to the occupant. The Sun came up, ice melted, and allthat was left was some fine powdery residue on the lunar regolith.

Here we want to spin us a large reflector for a telescope and in thepast we have heard that mercury would do this on Earth, but mercury isHEAVY and the vapors are not good for you. You probably wouldn't bebreathing them in the vacuum of the Moon but then your mirror wouldn'tbe too good if all the liquid left to contaminate the vacuum.

Here we have a different substance used for the liquid and again coatedwith a very thin film of metal.

Take a look at the article and see just how the story is spun up.- LRK -

June 21, 2007RELEASE : 07_36ARNASA Liquid-Mirror Telescope on Moon Might See Deeper Back in TimeSomeday, astronauts on the moon may pour liquid onto a disc-shaped meshto make a huge mirror for a powerful telescope, according to a technicalarticle just made public.

The liquid would include a silver-coated surface, and would be part ofan optical-infrared telescope with a 66-foot (20-meter) to 328-foot (100meter) aperture capable of observing objects 100 to 1,000 times fainterthan the James Webb Space Telescope, the authors say. The technicalpaper will appear in the June 21, 2007, issue of the journal, Nature.

"In this case we have shown how the moon is ideal (for) using liquidmirror technology to build a telescope much larger than we canaffordably build in space," said S. Pete Worden, director of NASA AmesResearch Center in California's Silicon Valley, and a co-author of thetechnical paper. The lead author is Ermanno Borra, Laval University,Quebec, Canada. "Such telescopes, perhaps 100 meters in diameter can seeback to the early phases of the universe after the Big Bang," Worden added.

October 9, 2008: A team of internationally renowned astronomers andopticians may have found a way to make "unbelievably large" telescopeson the Moon.

"It's so simple," says Ermanno F. Borra, physics professor at the OpticsLaboratory of Laval University in Quebec, Canada. "Isaac Newton knewthat any liquid, if put into a shallow container and set spinning,naturally assumes a parabolic shape--the same shape needed by a telescopemirror to bring starlight to a focus. This could be the key to making agiant lunar observatory."

Borra, who has been studying liquid-mirror telescopes since 1992, andSimon P. "Pete" Worden, now director of NASA Ames Research Center, aremembers of a team taking the idea for a spin.

International Space Race Heats Up as More Players Jump InMonday, July 28, 2008

As NASA's space-shuttle program nears its official end in 2010, spaceexploration has become an increasingly global competition.

The Europeans, Russians, Chinese and others are competing for bragging rights todevelop the next generation of manned spacecraft.

NASA's Constellation program, designed both to replace the space shuttle and getAmerica back to the moon and on to Mars, has gotten a lot of publicity and alot of flak as it threatens to go over budget and behind schedule.

Meanwhile, the Europeans and Russians have teamed up to create their ownplatform, the Chinese are continually upgrading their vehicles and the Japanese and Indians are mulling their ownmanned space flights.

*Volume 2:Part 5: Utilization of Lunar Resources**Part 6: Life Support and Crew Health at a Lunar Base**Part 7: Operations and Infrastructure on the Lunar Surface**Part 8: Enabling a Program for Human Exploration of Space

LISA Pathfinder will pave the way for a major ESA/NASA mission plannedfor the near future: LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), aimedat detecting gravitational waves generated by very massive objectssuch as black holes. Detecting gravitational waves will tell us moreabout the way space and time are interconnected.

The mission consists of placing two test-masses in a nearly perfectgravitational free-fall, and of controlling and measuring their motionwith unprecedented accuracy. This is achieved through state-of-the-arttechnology comprising inertial sensors, a laser metrology system, adrag-free control system and an ultra-precise micro-propulsion system.

All these technologies are essential not only for LISA; they also lieat the heart of any future space-based test of Einstein's GeneralRelativity. LISA Pathfinder is scheduled for launch at the end of2009.snip--------------------------------------------------------------------

When you read the whole article from the European Space Agency, itreads like science fiction.- LRK -

With LISA Pathfinder, the technology needed to detect gravitationalwaves will be tested in space for the very first time. Using thistechnology, LISA will be able to show whether a key prediction ofAlbert Einstein's, put forward more than 90 years ago in his GeneralTheory of Relativity, is indeed correct. The prediction is thatripples in space-time, known as gravitational waves, criss-cross theUniverse, however, these waves have never been detected directly. Bydetecting these ripples, LISA will tell us more about the way in whichspace and time are interwoven. LISA will detect these waves, theirintensity, properties and direction in order to investigate elusiveobjects such as black holes and neutron star binary systems within ourgalaxy that we would otherwise have no way of observing.

You probably have seen criss-crossed standing waves in a stream wheretwo rocks stick out and the water flowing by makes ripples thatradiate out and cross each other. They might look like they are fixedin place and yet the water is rushing by. What if massive bodies wereto disturb the gravitational attraction each feels of the other andthere would be some way to experience this?

If you thought you had an idea of how to test this theory, how longwould you persevere in seeing a mission take place that could go outin space and sense the disturbance in the force?- LRK -

LISA Pathfinder was approved by the ESA Science Programme Committee(SPC) in November 2000. It was further reconfirmed by the same bodyand by the ESA Council in May 2002, as part of ESA's new 'CosmicVision' Scientific Programme.

How would you go about making the spacecraft quiet enough to feel anydisturbance from out there in space while you are in orbit around theL1 point?- LRK -

--------------------------------------------------------------------http://www.esa.int/esaSC/120397_index_0_m.htmlsnipThe Disturbance Reduction System (DRS) is an experiment provided byNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, which includes also aset of micro-rockets that aim to control the spacecraft's position towithin a millionth of a millimetre. Once validated by this mission,the technology on LISA Pathfinder will be ready to be used in the morecomplex and further-reaching mission LISA. There the relative movementof two spacecrafts located 5 million kilometres apart will be measuredto an accuracy of 10 picometres (1 picometre is equal to one millionthof a millionth of a metre).snip--------------------------------------------------------------------

And you thought your were just going to lay out in the Sun withnothing between you and the rays.May the force be with you and may you be one with it.- LRK -

System level acoustic tests completedhttp://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=4345623 Sep 2008 11:23The LISA Pathfinder system level acoustic tests were performed on 9and 10 September 2007 at the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF)at ESTEC, The Netherlands. The purpose of these tests was to confirmthe load levels on the spacecraft units arising from randomvibrations. Initial assessment of the test results indicates that theloads were as expected.

The science and propulsion modules arrived at ESTEC in early August.Since then the modules have been in one of the clean rooms beingprepared for these acoustic tests, the first in a series of systemlevel tests scheduled for this year. The tests are performed onrepresentative models of the flight modules with dummy masses takingthe place of most system units.snip

LISA Pathfinder modules ready for acoustic testshttp://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=4346201 Sep 2008 09:43The LISA Pathfinder science and propulsion modules are now ready foracoustic testing in the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) atESTEC, The Netherlands. In the four weeks since the modules arrived atESTEC engineers have been busy preparing the units for this firstsystem test.

For these acoustic tests a spare flight model of the science modulehas been equipped with representative models of the micro-propulsionthrusters, the flight model of the solar array and a number of dummymasses (which take the place of many of the standard system units).snip==============================================================When it comes to galaxies, diversity is everywhere [heic0819]http://sci.esa.int/jump.cfm?oid=43485

A thorough survey using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope hasobserved around 14 million stars in 69 galaxies.Some galaxies were found to be full of ancient stars, while others arelike sun-making factories.snip

The detailed study, called the ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury(ANGST) program, explored a region called the Local Volume, wheregalaxy distances range from 6.5 million light-years to 13 millionlight-years from Earth.snip

Many stars in nearby galaxies are the fossil equivalents of new starsforming in the far Universe. "When we look back in time at distant,young galaxies, we see lots of vigorous star formation. However, wecan only guess as to what those galaxies might eventually turn into,"Dalcanton explained. "Using the galaxies in the nearby Universe as a'fossil record', we can compare them with young galaxies far away.This comparison gives us a history of star formation and provides abetter understanding of the masses, structures, and environments ofthe galaxies."

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

David said that in England there was a video on the discovery channelcalled Moon Machines.One of the machines was designed by MIT, a small silicon computer thatwould take the astronauts to the Moon.They mentioned the 1201 and 1202 errors due to having the radar turnedon at the wrong time during the first landing.

I saw a TV show on similar or maybe the same subject some time back.It showed the making of the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC).They showed the machines that were made to wire the logic circuits forthe firmware that let women pass a shuttle cock through to wire wraparound the proper post to make the connections. Each card was thenplaced on a tester that called up the logic it was supposed to solve.Remember this is back in the 60's.- LRK -

The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) was the first recognizably modernembedded system, used in real-time by astronaut pilots to collect andprovide flight information, and to automatically control all of thenavigational functions of the Apollo spacecraft. It was developed inthe early 1960s for the Apollo program by the MIT InstrumentationLaboratory under Charles Stark Draper, with hardware design led byEldon C. Hall. Based upon MIT documents, early architectural workseems to have come from J.H. Laning Jr., Albert Hopkins, Ramon Alonso,and Hugh Blair-Smith. The actual flight hardware was fabricated byRaytheon, whose Herb Thaler was also on the architectural team.--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is interesting what was done with so little memory and storage for firmware.

I pulled a UNIVAC Digital Trainer out of salvage when I was at theNavy training center just north of Memphis Tenn.It took me about six months of playing with the circuit cards andlogic diagrams in the evenings to get it to work.

I think it had about 512 (15 bit) words of memory and was made up oflittle circuit cards that were NOR gates made up of a transistor, somediodes and some resistors. When I left my assignment there I gave itback to salvage and had tears in my eyes.

When I got out of the Navy in 1983 I went to work supporting thePioneer programs at NASA Ames and they had Sigma V computers that werestill using transistors and diodes to make NOR gates to then make halfadders, that combined made full adders and WOW, you could add 1 to 1and get 10 (in binary addition).

SDS Sigma-5 was a 32-bit computer that was introduced by the Xeroxcompany in 1965. (Scientific Data Systems [SDS] was a company Xeroxhad acquired in 1969.) This was a reduced-capability version of theSigma 7 computer. It was commercially retired in the 1970s after Xeroxleft the Mainframe computer manufacturing business.snip--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crew members could communicate with either computer using display andkeyboard units (DSKY, pronounced "disky"). Two DSKYs were in the CM,one on the main control panel and one near the optical instruments atthe navigator's station. In addition, a "mark" button was at thenavigator's station to signal the computer when a star fix was beingtaken. A single DSKY was in the lunar module. The DSKYs were 8 by 8 by7 inches and weighed 17.5 pounds. As well as the DSKYs, the computerdirectly hooked to the inertial measurement unit and, in the CM, tothe optical units.

The choice of a 1 6-bit word size was a careful one. Many scientificcomputers of the time used 24-bit or longer word lengths and, ingeneral, the longer the word the better the precision of thecalculations. MIT considered the following factors in deciding theword length: (a) precision desired for navigation variables, (b) rangeof input variables, and (c) the instruction word format. Advantages ofa shorter word are simpler circuits and higher speeds, and greaterprecision could be obtained by using multiple words. A singleprecision word of data consisted of 14 bits, with the other 2 bits asa sign bit (with a one indicating negative) and a parity bit (oddparity). Two [35] adjacent words yielded "double precision" and threeadjacent, "triple precision." To store a three-dimensional vectorrequired three double precision words . Data storage was as fractions(all numbers were less than one). An instruction word used bits 15-13(they were numbered descending left to right) as an octal operationcode. The address used bits 12-1. Direct addressing was limited, so a"bank register" scheme (discussed below) existed to make it possibleto address the entire memory.

The Apollo computer had a simple packaging system. The computercircuits were in two trays consisting of 24 modules. Each module hadtwo groups of 60 flat packs with 72-pin connectors. The flatpacks eachheld two logic gates. Tray A held the logic circuits, interfaces, andthe power supply, and tray B had the memory, memory electronics,analog alarm devices, and the clock, which had a speed of onemegahertz. All units of the computer were hermetically sealed. Thememory in Block II consisted of a segment of erasable core and sixmodules of core rope fixed memory. Both types are discussed fullybelow.